Opinion – Page 333
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Comment
Violence in the Workplace
Managing topics like workplace violence can begin with simple steps. Employee Factsheets, Director’s Briefings and Workplace Checklists can help with identifying risk and managing policy. Lauren Paines looks further into this challenging area of workplace safety. Violence at work is defined as “Any incident in which a person is abused, ...
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Comment
Where are the QSs at Mipim?
Dubai pearl images are pretty breathtaking. Sky palace apartments with infinity pools 73 floors up are something special (and a bit terrifying if you have a problem with heights) CEO of the project is confident that completion by 2013 is on track.Just had coffee with RMJM's Peter Morrison before he ...
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Comment
Missed meetings, quay contacts and Lovell's expensive mistake
Just had my first early morning meeting cancelled through the other party still being in bed. I'll spare the blushes of the high profile consultant and regeneration magazine contributor involved as, on reflection, its completely my own fault. It's a rookie error to assume that an 8.30 breakfast meeting on ...
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Comment
Mipim: Yachts deter quangoes despite promise of deals
A surprise deal to rescue the development prospects for the Olympic site after the 2012 games was the big news to attempt to bring to life the Mipim annual property conference in Cannes.Announced by London mayor Boris Johnson on Tuesday, the deal follows a year of negotiations between the Treasury, ...
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Comment
Half a million construction jobs to go – it looks like a dead cert
Construction has now lost 213,000 jobs since the recession started to kick in the autumn of 2008, according to the latest figures. That is about 10% of the workforce.That sounds like a lot and it is. But given the severity of the fall in construction workload to date it is ...
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Comment
Rise of the MIPIM bunker dodgers
Having only arrived in Cannes last night in time for a quick bag drop before dinner, I have yet to venture into the bunker. This rather ominously titled location is traditionally the heart of the MIPIM conference.But it seems I am not the only one who hasn’t been in yet. ...
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Comment
More home sellers, fewer home letters - a housing market in flux
How should we read yesterday’s Rightmove figures showing the slowest ever March pick up in asking prices?They appear to be consistent with much of what else we are seeing in the market – a growing body of evidence that the recent bounce back in the housing market is faltering (see ...
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CommentThe man from the ministry
Who was also the client from hell, asked Gus Alexander to refurbish his flat. He then proceeded to give a masterclass in arrogance and incompetence. Here’s what happened
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CommentWonders & Blunders with Dean Webster
The Cyril Sweett boss has a solar epiphany on a Middle Eastern tower but another in London casts a long shadow on a park
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CommentHansom the french job
What starts with a communication failure and some missing property can quickly descend into gunfire in Paris, a team driving unlikely vehicles and a high-speed chase across France. What a cliffhanger!
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CommentPFI and the Panama Canal
I read your article on the Tories’ plan to lift the lid on PFI deals (26 February, page 14) and I have to say I think they are getting this one wrong and should look at the history of PFI
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Comment
A success story
Thank you for recently bringing to our attention the existence of the Graduate Talent Pool website (29 January, page 32)
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Comment
Can’t see the wood
In the context of your story about insurers threatening to pull cover for timber frame (5 March, page 11) you give the impression that six people died in a timber frame building as result of a fire in a housing block in Peckham in November
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Comment
Ageing gracefully
Housebuilders need to make profit to have sustainable businesses and the resources to build homes (5 March, leader, page 3) but they risk casting themselves as the bad boys if they resist measures to address the needs of our rapidly ageing population
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Comment
Young people today
The recent announcement that the Constructionarium, the UK’s only dedicated site-based training centre for university students could be forced to close as a direct result of a lack of government funding (5 March, page 10) is a worrying sign for the future of our industry
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CommentWe’re not there yet
Adjudication may be more popular than ever, but the recession has shown that it still has flaws – as does the rest of the Construction Act
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CommentSomething quite atrocious
A party that thinks an adjudicator has no jurisdiction can save money and bother by simply waiting until the end before making a song and dance about it
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Comment
Full speed ahead?
The Infrastructure Planning Commission was set up to fast-track projects of national importance, but it remains to be seen how well it will work
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Comment
Something might get broken
‘The rough and tumble of normal commercial bargaining” can, clearly, be used to extract a good deal from the other side. But if one party abuses this power, the other could argue later that the resulting contract is not binding. Such an argument is founded on the legal doctrine of ...